Synths

Serum has one of the best interfaces I have used in a soft synth. It is very easy to navigate and inspiring in that it encourages experimentation with sound and patch creation esp once you get into making custom wavetables. It is also a good synth to learn if you are new to synthesis due to the inteligent GUI. I had the opportunity to use it for a while and I created some patches for it which are mostly pads with some custom imported wavetables.

For anyone interested in sound design and creation not much can better using a fully configurable synthesizer be it either hardware or software based. Software synths such as Serum, Diva and even overlooked synths like Audjoo Helix have almost infinite sound sculpting possibilities. However such tools can be difficult to learn and use for someone new to synthesis and if you want to get fast results many then turn to preset romplers like Refx Nexus or sample libraries in Kontakt which have useful patches that sound good. However you then run the risk of everyone else using the same tired old patches without any modifications.

Loom is an additive synthesizer from Air Music Tech that takes a module style approach to synthesis. The various modules can be combined in any order to generate and manipulate sound. It is a different style to most other synths that take a traditional approach and layout so this can take a little time to get used to the way sound creation and manipulation works. Once you master this it has some interesting possibilities and can make really unique sounds. I like working in this synth since this extra dimension of work flow and creation becomes easy once you learn the basics.

Audjoo Helix is a wave-table shaping, virtual analogue, hybrid soft synthesizer with a deep rich high sound quality that makes it suited to pads and textures with motion and depth, although it is quite capable of bass and leads etc. Some of the pads and textures possible in this synth remind me a little of other older synth engines such as Native Instruments Absynth for example but this is not a typical thin sounding old school VSTi.